Kvetching

[SheriT]

Oh great, my husband and kids sill havn't stopped laughing at the sight of me wearing my mask now I have to tape my mouth shut with blue tape!

[Maxie]

Laugh with them because the alternative isn't nearly as much fun!!!

[Boyce]

You are taping your mouth shut at night?????? Blue tape??????

[SheriT]

You are taping your mouth shut at night?????? Blue tape??????

I'm a newbie so no one to take advice from.

But I'm having issues with opening my mouth at night so this morniong I did a topic search and found that many people advised using blue painters tape over your mouth. As my 12 year old would say "sigh".

[TalonNYC]

@SherIT - yeah, lots of folks with nasal masks have mouth-leaks during the night. Several folks on this forum get around that by using blue "painter's tape" over their mouths to stop the leaks.

I went with a full-face mask, myself. Stopped the issue and was more comfortable for me.

[xenablue]

SheriT - I recently 'weaned' myself off a chinstrap, which I thought would be a 'forever' thing. For the last 18 months, I'd periodically go a night without the chinstrap, wake up with the worst desert-mouth, so back to the chinstrap. Then, with us having such a hot summer, and DH and I taking off in our camper most weekends, I decided that the chinstrap had to go.

I still had it nearby, but after about 4 nights, I was keeping my mouth shut - now it's been several weeks and except for an occasional (minor) desert-mouth every few nights in the beginning, I'm now free of the chinstrap!

Honestly didn't think I'd be able to 'train' myself to keep my trap shut (hubby would vouch for this LOL), and it took a long time, but determination won!

Hang in there - this therapy is life-preserving.

Cheers,
xena

[Bons]

I was one of the lucky ones. I breathe through my mouth a lot even when awake, so I thought I could never get away from a fullface mask.

Then my brandnew cushion leaked like a sieve and the weather got hot, so I gave a nasal mask a try. No tape, no chin strap. I recently checked my data after three months usage and found that my leak rate is way down, my 95% epap and my avearage pressure support are down, and my AHI went from an average of 4 to an average of 2. There was only one night in three months that I woke up because I was mouth breathing.

[chunkyfrog]

Johnson and Johnson cloth tape. (Off brand cloth tape stinks.)
Sometimes, I add Poligrip strips.
Most chin straps give me an immediate headache. Pain puts me off anything.
(50 shades of,"This is not my deal---STOP")
I wear a full face mask if I just don't feel up to using adhesives.

[archangle]

Just kidding about that particular tape. You would NEVER want to use any kind of duct tape because it can be dangerous if you can't get it off quickly.

Taping your mouth risks suffocation or other problems if the machine quits blowing and you don't wake up while wearing a nasal mask. You will be rebreathing your own exhaled air. Oxygen will decrease and CO2 will increase. This can cause you to sink deeper into unconsciousness and stop breathing. This is why all full face masks to have an anti-asphyxia valve.

Most people will wake up and be able to take the mask or tape off, but it's not a sure thing.

There is a risk of aspiration pneumonia if you vomit before you can get the tape off. Aspiration pneumonia is very bad. Google it.

Many people tape anyway despite the risks and have no problems. The risk may be small, but you'll probably be doing this for the rest of your life so risks add up.

[barb_z]

I use tape, but not across my whole mouth. I just do one side and it seems to be enough! Leaks are fine and if I do get a full mouth full of air, it can seep out the un-taped side! I did the same with the Polident strips...

[chunkyfrog]

Archangle:
You are welcome to come over and watch me sleep, since you are so worried about me.
PM me and I'll give you directions to the house.

[avi123]

so who is Kvetching?

[the_nap_ster]

Pain puts me off anything.
(50 shades of,"This is not my deal---STOP")

This might be the funniest thing I've ever read. And sister, I am with you!

Honestly, the chin strap is the only part of my therapy that is still giving me grief. I'm currently messing around with cloth tape to see if I can ditch the strap. I've used painter's tape, but (so far) my skin seems to like the cloth stuff better.

[Journeyman]

Been using a nasal mask and needed to keep my mouth shut. I read on here about using elastic wrap like an ace support wrap. I foud a wrap 2.87" x 4.7feet. I made three bands from this, sewing each one together. I over lapped the ends about an inch. I have two spare bands. The band works great, I put it on before my headgear. This also helps with strap marks from the headgear. It can be a little warm with this weather we have been having,but not too bad. Thinking about deflecting the air flow from the mask to blow around my face??? About six months into this sleeping thing, now I"m starting to wake up

[ems]

You can train yourself to stop mouth breathing. The idea of tape just didn't appeal to me.